Sole structure configured to allow relative heel/forefoot motion

摘要

Shoes and/or shoe elements facilitate natural foot motion and/or reduce forces tending to fight natural foot motion. In at least some such structures, a wearer's heel is secured to the hindfoot region of a shoe (e.g., by a strap system) in a manner that permits heel/forefoot rotation and that allows the lower leg to remain straight. In other structures, a shoe can include a heel supporting component that is separate from a midsole component, and this heel supporting component can move toward the lateral side and/or medial side of the shoe along an interface between the heel supporting component and the midsole component. Other suitable shoe and shoe component structures also are described.

主权项

1. A sole structure for an article of footwear, comprising:
a foam-containing midsole component providing support for a plantar surface of a foot, wherein an upper rearfoot surface of the foam-containing midsole component is curved in a manner so as to generally conform to a heel of a user and wherein a lower rearfoot surface of the foam-containing midsole component is curved; a plate supporting at least a rearfoot region of the foam-containing midsole component, wherein an upper rearfoot surface of the plate is curved to receive the lower surface of the foam-containing midsole component, wherein a lower rearfoot surface of the plate is curved in a substantially parallel manner to the upper rearfoot surface of the plate, wherein a distance the plate extends along a lateral side of the sole structure is greater than a distance the plate extends along a medial side of the sole structure, and wherein the plate tapers from a widest medial side-to-lateral side width in a central rearfoot region to an extension located in a midfoot region; a lower foam component supporting the lower rearfoot surface of the plate, wherein an upper rearfoot surface of the lower foam component is curved to receive the lower rearfoot surface of the plate and wherein a lower rearfoot surface of the lower foam component is flatter than its upper rearfoot surface; and an outsole component including a forefoot outsole member and a rearfoot outsole member, the rearfoot outsole member covering at least a majority of the lower rearfoot surface of the lower foam component, and the outsole component lacking a medial side connection between the forefoot outsole member and the rearfoot outsole member in the midfoot region.